Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
SUTTON
Each time I called Jayden, it went to voicemail.
Since six this morning, I’d been trying, hoping he’d wake and get the thing switched on.
By seven, I’d donned my cap and sunglasses to escape the suite only to be stopped by Max, who pointed out the media outlets camped outside Montview and that we needed to stick to our arrangement.
While I didn’t know how he gathered his intel, I had no reason not to believe him.
Picking up my ringing cell, my heart tripped over itself, hoping it was Jayden. While it wasn’t him, I wasn’t too disappointed as Jayden’s mom’s name flashed on the scream. “Hey, Mrs. Moore,” I greeted.
“How many times have I told you to call me Daisy or even Mom?”
My heart constricted, hoping that would be possible one day soon. “Sure thing, Daisy. Maybe we can build up to Mom. Is everything okay?”
“Sure is. Just wanted to let you know Mike landed not long ago.”
I smiled. “That’s great. I wish you could have come too.”
Her voice remained light. “Pish, don’t you worry about me. You know I’m not a fan of traveling, and this contraption doesn’t make it easy. Plus, you’re doing me a favor.”
“I am?”
“A couple of days without Mike, and it’s like I’m the one having the vacation.”
I chuckled. Considering Jayden took after his dad in so many ways, I believed every word.
“And how are you feeling? You doing okay, honey?”
I smiled and sank down onto a chair. “Yeah, or I will be. Just wish I hadn’t left the academy yesterday, is all. Camping out there would mean I wouldn’t feel trapped.”
“I know, honey. Just don’t worry too much about everything, okay? Things will settle down soon enough. I’m just so pleased you called us yesterday and caught us up to speed. You know we love you boys, don’t you?”
I swallowed hard, surprised at the impact of her words.
Yesterday when I’d called, I’d told them pretty much everything, or at least the bare bones of it all.
How I loved their son. That we weren’t engaged.
And anything they read or saw was before we were together, so they shouldn’t be concerned about Jayden.
The conversation had extended and gone deeper, hence why Mike had jumped on a plane. I’d been beyond touched, and regardless of what happened over the next few hours, I knew Jayden would love the surprise of seeing his dad.
“I do, Daisy. Love you too.”
“Good, well, keep your cool and don’t screw this up.” A light laugh filtered down the line, and I grinned.
“No chance of that. I’ll speak to you soon.”
After we said our goodbyes, I managed to eat breakfast in between some fast-paced texting with Pearce, Eddie, and Coach. All three I’d spoken to last night, and we’d texted a lot over the past couple of hours.
“You ready?”
Max startled me from scrolling through my messages. “Is it time?”
His brows shot high. “Just a couple of hours ago, you were sneaking out. Now you’re worried?”
I shrugged and stood, feeling so nervous I was going to puke.
What I planned was so not me, but it had Jayden written all over it. It was that knowledge that had me wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans and taking one step in front of the other to get to the elevator.
Max, a stoic presence at my side, clapped me on the back. “You’ve got this, man.”
Somewhat numbly, I nodded, and with each step I took, I questioned my sanity.
This was crazy. Fucking ludicrous. My hand shook when I pressed the call button. Rather than Max pointing out the obvious, he remained quiet and passed me a cold bottle of water.
“The hotel’s organized a car. It’s waiting for us in the underground garage.”
I nodded, watching the numbers count down, the movement feeling ominous. Shit, was it like a countdown to my doom, my humiliation?
I huffed out a breath and cracked my neck. This wasn’t just about me. Sometimes it was necessary to put yourself out on a limb and hope like fuck it wouldn’t break so you plummeted to the ground. At the end of the day, I’d handled yesterday badly. Again.
Today was about living my truth, this new version of myself, and finding the comfort and love in that.
More resolved than just thirty minutes ago, by the time we were secure in the car and heading to the academy, I found a reason to smile.
Jayden.
He was going to go nuts over this. He loved this shit, and since I loved him, I’d do pretty much anything for the man.
Like clockwork, Eddie, who was proudly wearing his pink, purple, and blue pin, and Milo had distracted the press with an impromptu conversation, talking to them about the Pride Youth group due to arrive in the next few minutes.
It was the distraction we’d hoped for so they couldn’t swarm me, while having the added bonus of focusing on the Pride Youth group, what their mission was, and how this year’s program at Montview was supporting it as a whole.
Once inside the main grounds, Max and I headed to the court.
Today, with the group’s visit, a short game was going on between the staff and the college kids.
After that, the college players were spending time with the group, running some fun drills, answering questions, and spending time with them.
After that, a movie was planned, obviously a basketball movie, complete with popcorn and other candy, before the group left.
It was something I’d been excited to be a part of. Still was.
“You know what you’re doing?” Max asked before I entered the court.
No. “Yeah, I’ve got this.” God, I was going to make such a prick out of myself.
Max’s laughter wasn’t reassuring, but he was clearly entertained by my pending humiliation. With a quick slap on the shoulder, he left me to it, heading into the small court to sit and watch.
There were no other guests attending today.
The only people watching the game were Pride Youth.
We’d agreed to their recording and doing basic social media about the game as promo, but the focus was on us and the game only, rather than the more personal stuff with the kids later on.
All I knew about the group was that about forty kids were attending, all between twelve and seventeen, and all identifying as LGBTQ+.
I thought the whole thing was awesome, and with what I planned, I hoped they got a kick out of it.
“Didn’t think you were going to show.” Pearce shook my hand and hugged me, a wide grin on his face.
“No chance of me missing this.”
With his grin still in place, the guy practically vibrated before me.
“You doing okay? Too much caffeine this morning?”
“I told the staff and the college players this morning. Came out to them.”
“Fuck, man.” I engulfed him in a tight hug, tears springing in my eyes. “I’m so proud of you, man. For real.”
I pulled away, not even giving a damn that my emotion was clear for him to see. His laugh was giddy, his own gaze watery. He sniffed and shook his head, clearing his throat. “Right, well, yeah. So that bit’s done. I’ll do the easy stuff later.”
“Easy stuff?”
“Yeah, you know, the fans, America, the Eagles.”
I laughed. “Well, I hope you know our team well enough to be confident that they’ll have your back, completely.”
“Shit, do you think they had a wager on me?”
I snorted. “If so, I didn’t hear anything about it.”
“Huh, I don’t know whether to be offended or impressed as hell if there were no bets going.” He bobbed his brows a couple of times, the energy pouring off him addictive. “You ready?”
I nodded. “Definitely.” I latched on to his enthusiasm and gripped tightly. He was riding such a high, and he deserved every single second of it.
“Let’s get going to the coach’s office then. There’s everything we need.”
I felt seventeen again. A giant ball of nervous excitement bounced around in my gut, much like it had when I’d asked Libby Henshaw to be my date for the prom.
Back then, the ball had been the size of a tennis ball.
Now, it was definitely the size of a basketball, this moment feeling more significant than the day I got drafted.
I tightened my rainbow laces, something we were all wearing to celebrate today’s events and our guests. I then shook out my hands.
Pearce had left me a while back. I just hoped he was doing a decent job of calming Jayden down. It was a risk not seeing him beforehand and waiting until we were in public to speak again. But this was my public declaration to him, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he’d lap it up.
Okay, maybe there was the slightest possibility that he’d slam the ball in my face first. But I was quietly confident he liked my face too much to do damage.
And honestly, if for one moment I was seriously worried or uncertain about his ready acceptance of our relationship, I wouldn’t have organized it to begin with.
Certainty bloomed to life, and I smiled as I listened to the cheering kids who’d entered the court about thirty minutes ago. Coach Jenkins was emceeing. His voice over the microphone speakers reached me as I stood outside the doors, well away from the main locker room.
I gripped the cheap trophy that Max had managed to rustle up with the power of determination and cash and grinned at the #1 Lollipop King engraved on it.
Coach worked his way through today’s players, their names, the small crowd going wild. My heart thumped loudly at hearing Jayden’s name, and then there was just one left.
“Gale Sutton, star Eagles player.”
And that was my cue.
A final check that my Eagles hoodie was zipped up fully, I opened the door and jogged out onto the court. It took me just a couple of seconds for my gaze to land on Jayden’s. His eyes were wide, his focus intent, stare unwavering as I got closer to the rest of the guys on the court.
Before I forgot, I waved at our visitors, offering a big smile. Spotting Mike, I fired him a chin lift before refocusing on Coach.
“And these guys here will be entertaining you in a few moments. The only bets you should be making are on the coaching staff. You can be sure we’re going to be wiping the floor with these guys.”